Sunday, May 15, 2005

Some of you might remember that the steady hands over at the Cornell NanoScale Science and
Technology Facility apparently did not have enough work to do about
a year ago, so they gave themselves some busywork -- like nanosizing
the American flag and the White House. Actually, they millimetersized
them, but used some tools of the nano trade to create flags 3
millimeters wide and 1.5 millimeters tall, and a bunch of White Houses
-- one 4.5 millimeters across and four others at 510 micrometers across.

These small tokens of Cornell's appreciation were given
last year to presidents Clinton and Bush for their respective roles
in launching
the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative and signing
the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act. If
nothing else, both efforts proved to be incredibly lucrative for
universities that were prepared to add the nano prefix to their
programs.

Cornell has about a hundred of those little things hanging around, so
they're auctioning
them on eBay until May 18. Proceeds will benefit Main
Street Science, a "not-for-profit that supports the development of
science learning activities for children and adults. "

2 comments:

Spike R. MacPhee
said...

Actually, it was only the first few that were on auction until May 18th. I just bought #14 of the 100 copy limited edition. They appear to be offered at a few per week, and are still available at opening bids of $20. Watch out for a last-minute bidder who tried to buy all five for $30 each. The eBat seller is mainstreetscience athttp://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZmainstreetscience

We will be continuing to offer nanoflags until the 100 are gone. Just search for 'nanoflag'. There are a few currently posted and apologies for our lack of experience in having five auctions end within a minute of each other. We will fix that in all subsequent auctions and will be offer some as a 'buy now' option. All proceeds will go to Main Street Science, a 501 C 3 that helps to get kids excited about science.